Therapeutics Award

Dr. Wigle is investigating the effectiveness of stereotactic radiation therapy (SBRT) versus surgery in patients with compromised pulmonary function. This project is a phase II clinical trial whose results will set the stage for more-definitive phase III trials.

The key proteins driving the growth of new blood vessels in tumors are the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its main receptors. Dr. Innocenti is studying how the level of these factors varies in the tumors of non-small cell lung cancer patients. He is also determining whether there is a genetic basis for the difference in their levels and what the role of these proteins in helping patients live longer is.

KCNK9 potassium channel activity is involved in the development of cancer, including lung cancers. Dr. Shikano is studying how this activity is regulated. An understanding of this process may lead to the development of a treatment that targets the channel activity.

Radiation therapy is used for the treatment of lung cancer. Sometimes, the cancer does not respond to radiation. Dr. An is developing new drugs to make lung cancer cells sensitive to radiation. The primary goal of the research is to provide lung cancer patients with a customized combination treatment of the drugs and radiation therapy.

HSP90, a heat shock protein, protects cancer cells from chemotherapy. Dr. Vielhauer’s laboratory is developing novel targeted therapy that selectively blocks HSP90 and kills lung cancer cells.

Small cell lung cancer cells produce high amounts of myc protein.  The myc protein makes cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy. Dr. Ljungman is investigating why small cell lung cancer makes high amounts of the myc protein and how this can be reversed.

The PARP protein is a protein that protects cancer cells from being killed by chemotherapy. Dr. Brandes is determining how drugs that stop the PARP protein can be used for targeted therapy of non-small cell lung cancer.

Dr. Borgia is developing a process based on biomarkers derived from tissue and clinical factors such as age, smoking history, histology, and stage of diagnosis of lung cancer. This process will identify which patients with advanced-stage lung cancer will respond to medical treatment and thus qualify for surgery that potentially could cure the cancer.

Patients often face anxiety and distress following a lung cancer diagnosis. Dr. Krasna is studying how we can improve the recognition and treatment of psychosocial distress in lung cancer patients.

Dr. Tryggestad is developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based methods to characterize breathing motion. This information can then be used for radiotherapy planning, delivery, and optimization for the treatment of lung cancer patients.